SoxSport

Brad Mills was the bench coach two years ago until he left to manage Houston. Demarlo Hale has been the bench coach the past two seasons. While the media has not said much about what a bench coach does in spring training, I understand they pretty much run the everyday show. Last year, the Red Sox suffered a string of injuries which left one to wonder if their pre-season conditioning had been sufficient. Sure some of those injuries were serendipity, but a lack of conditioning surely will result in more injuries. This year, you have this horrendous start, with a lot of mental errors on the field. Not a team ready to play. I think the front office needs to take a look at the field management.

When a team sucks across the board, you look to the management.

Why just Aceves? Why don't they call up the rest of Pawtucket? Too bad that isn't possible. The Yankees will wake them up.

Youks may be frustrated, but he has to realize they are digging their own hole.

Losing 3 to Cleveland doesn't make the Rangers look that great winning 3. It makes the Sox look that bad.

Make that six.

Youk didn't hit a lick in spring training. Then he got a solid hit his first at bat in Texas. Since then, he hasn't hit a lick. You have to be concerned if his thumb is bothering him.

Yeah. And I'm only 55 years old. Just joking. I still have my 1950 Fenway programs.

Well, something has to be wrong. Heck, they just lost two games to maybe the worst team in baseball. The front office is spending $160 million a year on salaries. The ticket holders and cable subscribers are paying for it--plenty. I've suggested maybe the problem might be complacency. Tito is a laissez-faire type guy. A nice guy. A drill sargeant he is not. I remember Dick Williams in '67. Ex-Marine. No nonsense. That team overachieved, to put it mildly. You got a lot of stars here. A lot of prima donnas? I don't know. Tough to tell. I think they just might have had too much hubris in spring training. Tito, too. Thought they didn't have to do much to bowl everybody over when the season started. Turns out Tito didn't spend enough time sorting out the lineup. Maybe also, some of the regulars didn't play enough to be sharp out of the gate. Not enough discipline, maybe. The Sox lost their bench manager a couple of years ago--the guy who now manages the Astros, I believe. Some think he was the taskmaster--the coach that paid attention to the details in spring training. Last year, an extraordinary number of injuries. This year, an unusually slow start. Maybe they miss him.

The start of the season is always a fantasy nightmare. Pujols can't hit a lick, while Teixeira, a slow starter, has four dingers and Cruz has five. And, Bell, the closer for that horrendous SD team, has five saves. But just wait. Teix will come back to earth when the Yankees hit the road, and Cruz will pull a muscle and get on the DL--as he did most of last year.

It's not one position--or two positions. It's the whole team that's underachieving. A poor start. You have to do what the media so far has not done--point your finger at the management. Their spring training methods--the emphasis on the farm system--not getting the regulars fine tuned for a fast start. Not getting the batting order--in order. The starting schedule for the Red Sox this year was brutal: three games in steamy Texas against the best offense in baseball last year. Then three games in Alaska, Ohio. Pretty tough on guys who have been basking in the sun in Ft Myers--some of whom look like they could use a couple more weeks there getting in shape for the season.

No team has ever won a World Series after losing the first four games of the season. Of course, there's always a first time.

15 pushups every HR? That's guaranteed to keep you in shape just with Lackey and Beckett pitching.

1-Ells 2-Craw 3-Ped 4-AdGon 5-Youks for tonite. Tito is good at manipulating lineups. He's still trying to figure this lineup out with the new guy. I like this one--the speed is up front. L or R pitching. Don't change it. But Tito, why didn't you do this in spring training? I guess they didn't anticipate any problems.

It's still very early, though I'm a little upset that easy-going Tito didn't have this team ready to go into Texas and kick ass. That's his strength--and weakness.

60 years

Pumping up minor league players through the NY media to improve their tradeability is an old Yankee ploy. Though I've seen the quote that they didn't think Montero was a major league catcher yet. That doesn't help trading him. The kid that got away is Austin Jackson. He's better and cheaper than Grandison. Both Montero and Jackson "suffer" from batting RHd. That's a negative in Yankee Stadium.

The Red Sox played like they weren't ready to open the season against a tough team on its home turf . They lost 10 games in a row in spring training--near the end of spring training--not the beginning. Granted their policy is to look at minor leaguers in spring training. But maybe, just maybe, they overlooked their tough opening schedule and didn't play those regulars together enough in the pre-season. Especially with two key lineup changes and guys coming back from injuries. I can recall that TV game against the Twins, when Tito took all the regulars out in 5 innings after posting a 7-1 lead. A game they ultimately lost. Maybe those guys needed more work to get out of the gate faster.

The Yankees will get somebody if the the current lot of starters fails. They'll offer Montero and a few other minor leaguers. It isn't clear if the Mariners would trade Felix. I doubt the Red Sox are in the hunt for another starter. They simply can't afford another big salary without getting deeply into the luxury tax, which is not their policy. There is really only one team in baseball that can afford to pay double digit millions in luxury taxes.

Sooner than you think. Gonzo is clearly their best hitter, and should be batting 3rd.

Note to Tito: the Sox don't look like they were ready to face the AL Pennant winners on their turf for the season opening series. Not that I'm pointing any fingers.

Sometimes a guy hits .500 in spring training, then goes 0fer20 to start the season. Not the case with Ellsbury. I see Wake has become the official bullpen mop.

The question is how long before AdGon bats 3rd, Youks cleanup. The other question is Lackey. Let's go, Curt Young.

The question is how long Crawford lasts in the 3-hole. Still there tonite against a righthander. Still hasn't done anything, 0-3 last time I looked. Ellsbury, Ortiz and AdGon know the season has started. I'm not sure about the rest.

Hoiw about the guy they got from the Yankees for Sparky Lyle? Danny Cater. We'll give Buckner a rest.